try something new and it starts to make sense

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Carsten Orlt] “There is something really intriguing about this new beast and I only wish they would have talked a bit more about the philosophy behind it when they released it.”

In my opinion, this is exactly why Apple released it in what some might call it’s current “hobbled” state.

I’m sure I’ll take flack for this, or get called a fanboy or some other meme, but in my opinion this was a smart move.

First of all, it’s all new. New names, new media management,
new interface, new way of working, and of course Apple knows this. Historically, there hasn’t been a major beta program for FCP. Since this is all so new, Apple has released this version with a very limited feature set knowing that some people will start kicking the tires and also not completely opening the floodgates, drowning everyone waiting for the new release.

This allows us to start learning the new language, it allows Apple time to gather feedback and squash any bugs as let’s face it, this is essentially the beta test.

Rather than release everything all at once, this is a forced “ramp up” of what’s to come. Some might like it, obviously a lot of people don’t. Time will tell if the editing public determined this a smart move.

From what I can gather around the interwebs, from a developers stand point, FCPx looks like it might be a lot of fun and has potential to be very powerful from a third party programming point of view. This is encouraging to me. Sure, we might have to pay a little more for some third party functionality, but isn’t that what makes us “Pros”? We work, therefore we can pay. Suddenly $299 means something totally different.

I am wiling to wait this out. I think Lion will also be a big part of the FCPx future as well. For now, we learn the new keystrokes, figure out what to do with all these Events and keep sending feedback. If it turns out to be a bust as so many seemingly want it to do, then it will be obvious for me when it’s time to move on. Right now, it is obvious I need to give this a chance.

[Craig Seeman]

I agree. Reading from those who have poked around under the hood, it would seem Apple is putting pieces in place for extensibility, not the closed rigid system others are claiming.

I’ve said before FCPX is just the foundation, in its very earliest stages of usability. This is the time to learn the language even though they’re still working on the dictionary and the grammar.

I also think Lion will further enhance and extend FCPX. Apple is always about ecosystems and integration.

[Matt Callac]

Jeremy’s such a fanboy….He’s singing praises to software he’s never even used.

-mattyc

[Matt Callac]

[Craig Seeman] “This is the time to learn the language even though they’re still working on the dictionary and the grammar.”

Sure would have been nice if apple had given us at least a pocket translation handbook instead of relying on us to help write the dictionary. Translating is hard.

-mattyc

[Jeremy Garchow]

Yeah, I’m a lame-o.

I like to read between the lines. Empty space can be fun!

[Craig Seeman]

Some of Apple’s behavior is inscrutable for sure. I think their time scales are different. I suspect we’ll get more information when it fits their plan. One may not like Apple’s “behavior” but they generally act with great forethought. I think they’re still writing the dictionary so they’re reluctant to provide translation at this point. Dictionaries “define” things and they may not want to do that yet . . . as painful as it is for us.

There was a time when a developer had me look at an interface and deliberately gave me no instructions. They’d ask me to do things and observed what I was able to figure out. Of course that stuff doesn’t happen with released applications . . . does it?

Apple has a strange methodology but that doesn’t mean they are without method. Also there’s no guarantee that method will work either. Sometimes it’s interesting to observe without prejudgement as much as possible and as hard as that can be.

[Matt Callac]

I agree with everything you are saying…it just sucks having to try and figure out the method you are suppose to use for certain things.

Bad editing habits are hard to break, and the last thing I want to do is try and drive this thing like it’s FCP 7. I want to know how things are suppose to function…not the best way to work around getting something to work like something else use to.

Re; your a developer showing you an interface with no instructions… that’s totally different. You were told you were beta testing. Apple didn’t do that. They said…this is the product.

-mattyc

[Simon Ubsdell]

[Matt Callac] ” I want to know how things are suppose to function”

I think a lot of people are getting into a mindset that there’s a “right way” to do things in FCPX and are getting quite prescirptive over what they see as the “wrong way” of doing things.

I’ve trained a lot of editors over the years on a variety of NLEs and seen them at work and pretty much none of them has ever worked optimally, in fact most of them worked completely sub-optimally most of the time. The reason is that everyone likes doing things “their own way” even if it makes no sense to do so and even when it’s pointed out to them that it makes no sense.

I don’t think we should be anxious about trying to find the right way of doing everything in FCPX, just the way (or preferably ways) that work best for us individually.

I do worry that at present there appear to be limited options in terms of alternative ways of doing things in FCPX. The ideal situation is when there are a whole variety of different ways of doing things and you can pick the ways that most appeal to your fingers and your brain – even if they make no sense to anybody else 😉

Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com

[Doug Metz]

They say that composition is as much about what isn’t there…

Yeah, I’ll go with that.

Doug Metz

Anode

[Craig Seeman]

[Matt Callac] “Re; your a developer showing you an interface with no instructions… that’s totally different. You were told you were beta testing. Apple didn’t do that. They said…this is the product.”

Apple does things different. It’s often hard to figure out since their business model seems very different, at least superficially, than so many other businesses in the similar technology fields.

I’m not saying I personally like what they’re doing but I am trying to understand the business motives. If it’s to their long term advantage to release what many feel is a paid beta, they’d do it . . . even if there’s short term cost for them as well.